Covered Bridge Charm (6 page)

Carly laughed. “Let’s off steam about me?”

“I didn’t mean it that way. He admires your work.” Ann was open spirited, and her expression easy to read.

“But?” Carly urged.

The other woman leaned close and whispered, “He tells me you like to ruffle Uncle Simon’s feathers, and he has to smooth them down again.”

Carly felt like ruffling Adam’s feathers. Possibly wringing his two-sided, tattletale neck.

Sissie Lapp popped into the room. “We’re ready. Girls, get Adam inside, and everyone else will follow.”

Carly forced a smile when Ann enthusiastically looped her arm through hers, cementing her to the spot where Adam’s family would assemble and become the party’s focal point. Adam strode into the room like a man going to his own hanging. His sisters hovered and turned him to face the crowd.

He raised a hand, and everyone quieted. “And I thought you were my friends. I turn thirty, and you all come to gloat.”

“Over the hill,” someone called.

He ruffled his thick, ebony hair. “But not bald yet.”

“Flirty thirty,” another teased.

He shrugged. Titters filled the room. “Just remember. Whatever happens tonight, there will be paybacks.” He pointed to the food. “Help yourselves. I’m so choked up, I can’t pray. Dad, you want to do the favor?”

Roman Lapp replied, “Jah, sure.”

After the prayer, Adam asked Ann, “Happy now?”

She released Carly’s arm. “Very. But I don’t think Carly is. I let something slip. Oops. Gotta go refill drinks.”

It annoyed Carly that, up to this point, Adam hadn’t acknowledged her presence.

“Why does this not surprise me?” Amusement creased his mouth and eyes.

“Flirty thirty, huh?”

His gaze pinned her to the spot. “You would know.”

She struggled not to blush. “So Ann tells me you’re always smoothing down Simon’s feathers after I ruffle them.”

Adam shrugged brawny shoulders, his eyes brimming with amusement. “How do you do that?”

“What?” she asked, tentatively.

“Most people show their dimples when they smile, but yours deepen most when you’re angry. It’s an enigma.” He ran a hand over his freshly shaved jaw. “I’ve been trying to figure it out for a while now. Sometimes I make you mad just to observe. Do it again.”

She rolled her gaze and grinned.
Godsend and burr rolled into one.

Sissie motioned impatiently, “Adam. Please start the food line.”

“Sure, Mom.”

He touched her elbow, nudging Carly in front of him.

She shot a dagger over her shoulder. “Don’t make it look like we’re together.”

His warm breath tickled her ear. “Don’t make a scene.”

He had a point. When they reached the center of the laden table, graced by flowers and black balloons, he whispered, “It’s my party so I can do whatever I want.”

“Jah. It
is
your birthday.”

“Let’s find a table.” While she knew most everyone at the party, she didn’t have any friends clamoring to her side. Over the years, friends had drifted away because she preferred to pour all her energy into Sweet Life. He led her outside to a picturesque tree with a rope swing. Beneath it was a white-clothed table.

“You’re lucky to have a family who cares enough to throw you a party like this.”

The lantern cast a warm glow on his thoughtful face. “Don’t you get parties?”

“Well, sure. That sounded wrong. But it’s just Aunt Fannie and Jimmy. Nothing elaborate like this.”

He bit into a pulled-pork sandwich. “Would you like something elaborate?”

“Maybe under the right circumstances.” She blotted his chin with her napkin.

His chewing stilled. He met her gaze, forcing her to be the first to look away. Then he forked mushrooms to the edge of his plate. “Love my family. Even if Mom adds fungus to the salad on my birthday. But sometimes they’re suffocating.” His gaze looked into the distance. “And I wonder what it would be like to break free.”

His comment startled her because it mirrored conversations of long ago. Dale’s need to make a break from the family. It brought back those arguments about moving away from loved ones. It wasn’t that she had resented Dale’s dreams or ambitions. She just hadn’t loved him enough to follow. And he hadn’t loved her enough to stay. But what hurt was his betrayal, the way he’d put all the blame on her, spreading the rumor she wasn’t submissive enough to be a good wife. He’d tarnished her name. Even insinuating—

“You look miles away.”

“I’m sorry.” She broke from her thoughts and studied the man sitting across the table. “You’re not that kind of guy.”

He frowned, “How do you know?”

“You’re too kind to hurt your family.”
Dale and Simon didn’t even speak anymore.

His voice softening, he argued, “You’re kind. And free spirited.”

“But you’re”—she grinned, knowing she’d rile him—“passive-aggressive and maybe a picky eater.”

He smiled. “I may surprise everybody. You inspire me.”

“Because I like mushrooms?”

He made a face.

From what she knew of Adam, a soft-spoken brooding type, she understood his struggle. Roman controlled the entire Lapp family except for Simon. All the Lapp men were hard headed. Poor Adam. It was a shame Roman resented his work at the center.

“At thirty, a man should be able to make his own way,” she encouraged.

His hand closed over hers, and she stilled.

“That’s exactly what I told Dad.”

Her heart sped from his touch and the intimate turn of the conversation. “You did?”

He withdrew. “He doesn’t get it.”

“Don’t let him stop you. Dreams are God given.”

“Some are. But a person shouldn’t go with every idea that pops into her head.”

“Her?”

He grinned. “Yes, her head. I’ve been cleaning up your messes for a while now.”

She argued, “Have not.”

“What about the time you got your bike stuck up in a tree and Jimmy and I had to—”

“I was only fifteen.”

“Old enough to know better. Or the time you talked Sherie into the assisted living picnic under that beehive, and the nurse had me run to the store after Benadryl?”

“That was horrible. I’m thankful someone didn’t have an allergic reaction.” She knew he often came to her rescue—just never considered his perspective: cleaning up her messes.

He gave her a crooked grin. “I could mention a dozen more times, but I won’t because that would kill the mood.”

“Mood?”

His hooded eyes dared. “Remember it’s my birthday, and I can do whatever I want.”

She nodded warily.

“And I’m wanting to take a walk behind the barn to collect the rest of my birthday gift from you.”

She leaned forward and arched a defiant brow. “You’ve already gotten your entire nonrefundable gift.”

“How about returnable?”

Biting back a smile, she shook her head.

“A birthday gift should be given on a birthday, don’t you think?”

“I think a guy shouldn’t go after every idea that pops into his not-so-bald, thick head.”

Jimmy plunked his plate down beside Adam’s. “This a private party?”

“No,” Carly replied triumphantly. But Adam’s gaze promised otherwise, and later it would haunt her as she lay awake, wondering about it.

A glow still flickered from the bonfire the Lapps had built to stave off the autumn evening’s chill. As the last guests trickled across the lane to their vehicles, Adam stacked chairs and leaned them against the tree where he’d flirted with Carly. The moment he’d laid eyes on her standing beside Ann, he’d felt something mutinous quicken inside him. An evil insurrection which set him on a stubborn, rebellious course. Using Carly allowed him to revolt against both Simon and Dad. Neither liked her. One warned him to be rid of her, and the other coaxed him to get close and influence. Or did Simon want to use him to get even with Dale?

Regardless of their motivations, he chose to charter his own course. Whether anybody liked it or not. It was his birthday to do as he pleased. Turning thirty was the real source of the uprising. Carly a convenient weapon to swath a path toward freedom. Except Mennonites were peacemakers, and he didn’t know how to wield a weapon. It hurt to hear her call him passive-aggressive. But she was right.

Yet beyond an innocent flirtation, what was his choice? Drop her and run like Dad warned? Or get close to see what happened when one camped around a free spirit? What mattered most was that the course was his own. Not theirs.

While he knew from experience that Carly frequently attracted trouble that spilled over onto those encamped about her, the princess also wore courage like a crown. And he needed courage to break free. He needed it because he didn’t want to hurt Dad or the rest of the family. Was it possible to be independent without hurting anyone? Usually for Carly, it backfired and hurt her, he reasoned.

Then there was that confounded kiss. It wasn’t what he’d expected, given her reputation. As humorous as she’d intended it to be, it had promised spoils that taunted him daily. She did tantalize, the way her free spirit broke forth into a riot of blond curls and curves that wouldn’t stay confined by plain clothing and prayer caps or rules and regulations. But what if the real spoils awaited him in Nappanee? The stakes were high. He didn’t want to leave any devastation behind. Didn’t want to march forward without certainty and at least one more kiss.

“Quit daydreaming and help me fold up this table,” Dad grumbled.

“Sure.” His sisters had already removed the tablecloths, so he lifted the nearest table and folded its legs.

“Let’s stack them on the truck and haul ’em to the barn. We can return them later.”

Adam had missed the rental set up, as Dad had sent him to Portland after some farm supplies. “Thanks for the party.”

“It was your sisters’ doings.”

As far as mechanics went, Adam and his dad worked like a well-oiled machine. It was almost like one was an extension of the other. If only their minds could sync the same way.

“What’s the deal with the Blosser woman?”

“We’re just friends.”

“Then why’d you flaunt her in front of everybody and treat her like your girl?”

They slid another table onto the truck’s bed. “What if she was?”

“Looked like she was playing hard to get. And even if you caught her, what then? You wanna get dumped like Dale?”

“If I wanted to get her and keep her, I could.” The truth of his own words struck him with knee-buckling force. He possessed the power to sway her. He’d seen the attraction in her eyes, the way she fought a blush. And that’s why he shouldn’t pursue her just to irritate his uncle and dad. The situation was entangled enough already with the thrill of the hunt and the enigma of those dimples.

“I’m telling you, she’s trouble. If you married her, she’d run all over you. Just like her aunt did when she was married to poor old Bob. Open your eyes and look at what’s going on around you at Sweet Life. Even Simon and I can agree she’s one headstrong woman.”

“I also possess the stubborn Lapp genes. If I was looking for a wife, I’d be looking for someone with grit. Otherwise, life wouldn’t be any fun.”

“That kind of fun doesn’t last. Running this tree farm is hard work and stressful. When you marry, you need somebody to fit in and make life easy for you at home.”

“I love Mom, but a different type of woman interests me.”

Roman softened. “Jah, your mom’s a good woman.” He drew out a hanky and rubbed the back of his neck. “Listen, Son. I’ve been thinking about that talk we had. That nonsense about Nappanee. I’m wondering why you would want to leave just when I’m offering you a partnership in the farm.”

Adam involuntarily braced himself against the truck.

“You heard me. I’m offering you a partnership. I think sixty/forty’s more than fair.”

“Dad.” Adam straightened. “I wasn’t expecting this.”

“Why not? It’s your birthday, isn’t it?”

Though Roman rarely expressed his emotions, Adam could see his pleasure. Moved by his father’s gesture of approval, he shifted to initiate an awkward embrace. “Thanks, Dad. I don’t know what to say.”

Roman patted his back, then released him. “Jah. Say, Jah.”

“Of course. This has been my dream.”